The 'war on terror' has dragged on for so long that - as a consequence - the Western world has turned the blind eye to one of its biggest killers: drone attacks. In an attempt to raise awareness and to make warfare more transparent for the voting public, young designer and NYU student Josh Begley developed Drones+, a controversial app that sends the user real-time notifications of registered US drone attacks, enabling civilians to keep informed on the harsh realities of war - even when they are far, far away.
The USA has topped the charts as the biggest spender for military expenditure, according to the SIPRI Military Expenditure database, having spent a staggering $682 billion in 2012 alone. The USA’s massive defense budget constitutes just under half the world total for military expenditure. Whilst the US is aiming for dramatic cutbacks on their military defense budget, one area that isn't showing any signs of slowing down is in drone sales. According to New York Times article 'Drone Sales Flourish at a Time of Austerity' -"...at a time when austerity budgets are causing deep cuts in orders for manned combat, transport and tanker aircraft, drone builders are thriving."
The use of unmanned drones for surveillance and targeted anti-guerrilla strikes has been a focus of ethical and political controversy. Since 2002, there have been over 475 US drone attacks resulting in an estimated 3,900-4,700 deaths - the key word being “estimated”. As these attacks are so distant, most of these deaths have not been formally acknowledged. Of the estimated 3,105 people killed in Pakistan, less than 2% were 'high-profile' targets. Regretfully, 535 were civilians, and 175 children.
Horrified by the lack of transparency in warfare and how the US government is spending its citizens’ tax-dollars, NYU student Josh Begley decided to create an informative app called Drones+. "I thought reaching into the pockets of U.S. smartphone users and annoying them into drone-consciousness could be an interesting way to surface the conversation a bit more," Begley said.
The app works by sending a pop-up alert every time there is a United States drone attack. It is a simple application - but it serves an important function: keeping the world in the loop about remote-control warfare. The Drones+ app improves life by allowing Americans, and the world, to be as connected to their foreign policy as they are to their smartphones. By delivering real-time information from reliable news reports, the app brings us closer to places like Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia - reminding us of the violence we unleash but rarely witness.
Despite the design being rejected by Apple's App Store on three consecutive occasions, most recently due to "excessively objectionable or crude content", the corresponding Twitter account @Dronestream is gathering quite the following. The content of the app focuses solely on mapping the location of an attack followed by details on how many people were killed, and displays no graphic content. It is Josh Begley’s hope, seconded by President Obama, to refocus the epic conflict that has defined American priorities since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and that with gathered support from U.S. citizens, we will be able to foresee a day when the so-called war on terror might all end.
